


Musings of a Young King

by alphardhy



Category: Shades of Magic - V. E. Schwab
Genre: Character Study, Gen, acol spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-13
Updated: 2017-08-13
Packaged: 2018-12-15 00:25:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 408
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11794596
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/alphardhy/pseuds/alphardhy
Summary: Rhy Maresh was just a boy who some days felt as though he were made of fears instead of skin and bones.





	Musings of a Young King

Cities were made of wood and stone, metal and glass. But not of light, never of light. Most of them—there were always exceptions— _welcomed_ the sun and the moon and the stars, of course, but the many lights of the world could not be touched or held, could not be used to build, and so it was impossible to carve houses out of sunshine or turn the faint glow of entire constellations into bridges and roads. No, cities were only made of wood and stone, metal and glass.

Cities and kingdoms, however, were very different things. And for Rhy Maresh, the foundations of the latter did need light. Not the kind that came from the world, though, but the kind that danced behind people’s eyes when joy and possibility thrummed in their hearts. The new king had seen—and still saw in nightmares that filled the hollowness in him with terror—what the darkness was capable of, had seen his people despair and beg and be consumed by it, and every morning he vowed not to let the light of his kingdom be swallowed by shadows or wars ever again.

Rhy Maresh was not _An Tol Vares_ , would never be the Golden King either; those titles belonged to his father, a man who defeated armies and crafted legends before he even wore his crown. He was not _Antari_ like his brother; _Sanct_ , there was barely any magic running through his veins. Rhy Maresh was just a boy who some days felt as though he were made of fears instead of skin and bones. But his mother had once told him that his kindness and his boundless optimism were also powerful things, capable of giving courage to others and healing wounds invisible to the eye. And he wanted to believe her, wanted to believe that he could be the strength of those who had survived. He would do everything possible to restore their hope, torn apart by the claws of a vicious demon, a false god. Loss and grief and memories threatened to snuff out the flame of his own hope at every turn—but it _was_  still there, in his amber eyes, and that was something. A start.

Every morning Rhy Maresh vowed, too, to rule with his mind and his heart and gentle words, and to help his people fight their ghosts from dawn till dusk.

London would shine again if they all kept holding on.

**Author's Note:**

> You can find me on Tumblr at [lirapheus](http://lirapheus.tumblr.com). Thanks for reading!


End file.
